Thursday, October 31, 2019

Picasso's Works at Metropolitan Museum of Art Essay

Picasso's Works at Metropolitan Museum of Art - Essay Example The essay "Picasso's Works at Metropolitan Museum of Art" explores the famous museum and analyze Pablo Picasso's artworks. Spanish-born artist Pablo Picasso is One of the undisputed masters of modern art. His initial Blue Period of 1901-04 is marked by the monochromatic focus on that particular color and subject-matters defined by ‘a particular cast of characters: lonely, suffering, poverty-stricken outcasts from society’. This morphed into the brightened tones of the Rose Period lasting two years, which featured the first appearance of circus performers in his paintings. Yet a transitory revolution was on its way, sparked by his association with Braque, whom he met upon moving to Paris. By 1910, Analytical Cubism was erupting, defined by the pictorial deconstruction of an object to produce a conceptual (as oppose to perceptual) image of an object. After two more years came Synthetic Cubism, with its revolutionary collages. After World War I Picasso broke with Braque and began moving towards Surrealism. The significance of this cannot be underestimated, as ‘the Surrealist movement moved Picasso in a direction including new imagery and vocabulary for emotional expression, and he incorporate violence, psychic fears, and eroticism in his works’. This is the period of the painting hung before me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1934’s Girl Reading at a Table. Color is my first impression—the warmth of the red, orange and yellow against a black background with hints of blue and green. A woman with white skin and hair and an elaborate green garland around her head is reading at a tall and simple table. One feather-esque hand touches her face while the other secures the book that so thoroughly captures her attention. Her fair skin features slight echoes of pink on her cheeks and neck, and her head is at such an angle that her pale hair falls before her eyes. Also on the desk is an amorphic yellow lamp and a tall and curving po tted plant in a brown container rises from the ground. This still thriving plant and the wreath adorning her hair bring a form of nature inside this space. Although the contents of the room are compressed within the frame of the painting, there is no awkwardness in the composition. The straight table legs are wonderfully offset by the gorgeously flowing lines of the red and orange dress as well as the plant and the yellow light flowing from the small lamp that brightens the dark night scene. Yet there is something young about this woman at the oversized reading table, and that is

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Prejudices in Workplace Essay Example for Free

Prejudices in Workplace Essay Part I Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each: †¢ Race †¢ Ethnicity †¢ Religion †¢ Gender †¢ Sexual orientation †¢ Age †¢ Disability |Category |Stereotype 1 |Stereotype 2 |Stereotype 3 | |Race | People say black people are lazy. |People say white people are smart |People say Jews are cheap but | | | |and blonds are dumb. |rich. | |Religion |Wiccan Pentacle Study, worship the|Gothic people are very weird and |Muslims are terrorist and women | | |devil. |violent.|are beneath them. | |Sexual Orientation |When someone see a feminine man |When someone sees masculine women |People say homosexuality is wrong | | |and call him gay. |she is a lesbian. |and immoral. | Part II Answer each question in 50 to 100 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. What are the positive aspects of stereotypes, if any? The aspects of positive stereotypes can be positive if a person know the difference and have the knowledge to understand what a person may be stating. If we prefer to someone as a â€Å"jock† we are acknowledging that this person is into sports. A person that is known to be preferred to by â€Å"Gothic† or â€Å"Punk† is because of the type of music they listen to and the type of clothing they wear. Usually no one is offended by this because it is factual and evident and these are positive aspects of stereotypes. What are the negative aspects of stereotypes? The negative aspects of stereotypes are the lack of understanding, the ignorance, and the labeling of someone to hurt their feelings as an individual or a group of people. A person may see a female with a short hair cut like a man and call them a dike without getting to know who that person is and assuming that this is what they are. Part III Answer each question in 50 to 150 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. Define stereotypes and prejudice. What is the difference between stereotyping and prejudice? Use examples to illustrate the differences. Stereotype is something conforming to a fixed or general pattern, a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinions, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment. Prejudice is prejudgment and negative attitude based on sex, race, age, sexual orientation, nationality, socioeconomic status, and religion towards an individual or group of people. The difference between stereotype and prejudice is that stereotype is standardized beliefs about people based on some prior assumptions. Prejudice is a type of judgment or assumption about somebody before having sufficient knowledge to judge with accuracy. Example of stereotype is all policemen eat donuts. Example of prejudice is an organization that hires more males and reject females are known to be prejudice. What is the relationship between stereotyping and prejudice? The relationship between stereotyping and prejudice is that stereotyping promotes prejudice and that prejudice reduction depends on stereotype change. Prejudice also influences the extent of stereotyping. The important theoretical tradition posits that this effect emerges because prejudice encourages the use of stereotypes as a means to justify societal inequality (e.g. , Allport, 1954; Katz Braly, 1933; Lippmann, 1922). What can be done to prevent prejudice from occurring? Intolerance stems from ignorance and arrogance this go hand in hand and people need to understand and have the knowledge not to pre-judge people. In order to prevent prejudice from occurring we need to begin now with the way we are raising our children and teach them not to be judgmental and preconceive people before we get to know someone. Teach them not to assume to not like someone because of the color of their skin or where they come from. People are people no matter what they may look like, getting to know a person is very important and not to judge a book by its cover. Have rallies of all race and culture so people can have a better understanding of others. It starts at home teach your children a better way so that they will understand life in a better perspective. Reference: Voices. yahoo. com/stereotyping, Psychology. about. com, www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary, azam. org.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Sub Contracting And Partnering And Framework Agreements Construction Essay

Sub Contracting And Partnering And Framework Agreements Construction Essay This course work talks about the subject of sub-contracting, partnering and framework agreements. It further proceeds to evaluate the benefits and disbenefits and assesses the consequences of a possible return to the more traditional model of contracting and sub-contracting within the industry. The work consists of introduction, case studies review, evaluation and conclusion. Partnering can be referred to many different relationships such as single project partnering; multi project, strategic partnering between a contractor and client; the use of a contractor of the same partnering process over many projects as a key building block in total quality management and contractor-employee partnering in the pursuit of safety goals (Kneeland, 1996). The concepts of partnering are, Partnering is a simple way of avoiding disputes; A dispute in this context refers to existing unsolved problems; Partnering involves proactive step to address project problems (Murphy, et al,. 1996). Individual buildings now have to meet more complex and subtle requirements which in turn demand the use of specialist sub-contractors, as the main contractor cannot and would not hope to carry all the works involved (Rietveld, 2004). Contracting firms exist in many different shapes and forms. It is possible to discriminate between contracting firms in terms of their size as well as by the nature of their business. They range from the very small to the very large. Whatever the size of the individual firm it will fall into one of the following categories: general building; specialist trade; specialist maintenance; building and civil engineering, and civil engineering (Headley and Griffith, 1997). In 1988 standard method of measurement for construction cited about 300 work sections, which reflect massive increase in the use of specialist sub-contractors in present construction projects (Rietveld, 2004). The prime aim of integrating the construction teams as suggests in the Reports of Eg an (1998) and Latham (1994) are to convert unnecessary costs into lower price for the clients and create higher assured profits for the materials and service suppliers (Cain, 2003). Long-term of design, production and supply-side partnerships are essential to the introduction of the supply chain management tools and techniques demanded by the Egan Report. The elimination of waste in the utilization of labour and materials as prescribed by the Latham report, 1994 (Cain, 2003). CASE STUDY REVIEW In a project environment, production and services meet. The location of the role of the project actors and the way in which they are linked are fundamental features for project management system beginning with application of organizational structure and delegation of duties, through some of the more sophisticated analysis and decision-making (Pryke, et al., 2006). The construction industry in UK has being accused for its wasteful, inefficiency, and ineffective execution of projects to meet clients objectives and needs, and how it differ from manufacturing industry. The concerns normally focused on areas regarding profit margin, its clients satisfaction and disintegration of the construction teams and procurement process (Anumba, 2000). Latham report (1994) identifies that low productivity, poor value for money and unsatisfaction of the clients objectives are elements of uniqueness, immobility, and variety causes of fragmentation in the construction industry when compared to manufacturing industries. Comparing the construction industry to other sectors, construction is unsophisticated in its approach to the supply chain. It can learn from the experiences of manufacturing industry, where there are standardization and efficiency to meet the customers demands (Egan, 1998). The need for UK construction companies to become more efficient is to follow the recommended management systems in Egan (1998) and Latham (1994) Reports to become more efficient and to improve productivity. The construction industry must be innovative and respond to change and new challenges before it can have potential improvement in aspects of the construction and design processes (Pryke, 2009). Sub-contracting in its own nature encourages fragmentation (Cox and Townsend, 1998). The uncertainty of the main contractor obtaining continuous work with the need to accommodate the different features and requirements of each project brings separation of the teams. Egan (1998) and Latham (1994) recommend reformation of the construction industry through partnering, when they observe there is disintegration between design and production process. In 1922, the first Standard Method of Measurement (SMM) specified only 16 trades in the text, but in 1988, the seventh edition of SMM (SMM7) included 300 different trades which reflect massive increase in the use of specialist sub-contractors in the present construction projects. This movement in the UK reflects many socio -technical economic movement within the industry (Rietvelde, 2004). Advancement in technology and introduction of sophisticated new materials in the supply organizations, method of production and erection sometimes, require new skills and expertise, hence the evolution of sub-contractors to offer these services to the main contractor (March,2009). In supply chain strategy, what to be sub-contracted and what should be done in-house need to be addressed properly. Activities that should be sub-contracted must be those which are not strategic important of the company and it cannot carry it out better than its competitors and is not anticipated that in the future it will improve its importance (March, 2009). A framework is a general term use for agreements that set out terms and conditions for making specific purchases (Edkins, et al., 2009). Framework Agreement has been design for use in both public and private sectors. It is beneficial to construction procurement system in achieving reduction in transaction costs; long-term relationship improvement; better value and greater wealth and risk solutions. It is the principle of applying Rethinking Construction in developing strategic relationship with the supply chain over a long period (Construction Excellence, 2008). Partnering, framework agreement and supply chain management are potential form of integrating the construction team to improve productivity reduce costs and meet a target time; create value for money and satisfy the clients objectives (Pryke, 2009). Supply chain management involves all parties which will contribute to the execution of a project from raw materials and component suppliers, design and client teams, and service providers, right from inception to commission stages (Cox and Townsend, 1998). Partnering in BAA, T5 project, contractors and suppliers worked closely in an integrated team. The benefits of the approach include the necessity to maintain one set of system record and joint quality control system; improved working condition for workers and higher level of safety on site and it encouraged innovation (Pryke, 2009). The Framework program to partner with suppliers provided them opportunity to learn and they included incentive performance targets which challenged them to make continuous supplies for every year during the five years period of the project. In 1998 BAA recruited Tony Douglas as the group supply chain director when BAA had 26000 suppliers with 23 different processes and 17 different systems for managing the transaction, 24 different architects, 23 costs consultants, and more than 70 external project managers and 340 suppliers (Potts, et al., 2009). In 2002, BAA developed second generation of framework Agreement and achieved more accurate project costs and implemented best practices and worked with suppliers in longer-term relationship which did not exist in UK construction industry during the past decades (Brady, el at., 2006). Lean Thinking by Womack Jones (1996), compared the performance of automobile manufacturing companies, those who were operating under traditional method with those who resolved to the then lean production system. The finding was that Japanese Toyota plant was twice productive and three times as accurate as the US General Motors plant by adopting Just In Time (JIT) system of supply, using 40% less manufacturing space and defects were three times reduced. Because of the success of JIT supplying system carried out by Toyota, which is framework agreement, other manufacturing companies follow their suit. The result demonstrates that JIT is not only about delivering of materials, but also to improve management as a whole (March, 2009). Framework agreement encourages collaboration between all key parties and personnel involved in the program of projects to achieve economic benefits and involve contractors at early stage of the project to develop efficiency of work (McKee, 2005). Initially the agreement may be between the client and the service provider, but the service provider may enter into another framework agreement with other service providers in the supply chain to create web that interwoven the major project participants. it contains provision which determines the rights and responsibilities of all the parties involved in the project. The objectives of framework agreement may not be achieved overnight, but its implementation will improve productivity and integrate the teams in the construction industry (Potts, 2009). The light of integration and collaboration as recommended by Egan Report Rethinking Construction and Latham Constructing the Team is rapidly arising in the construction industry during this mille mium, if maintained may set the industry abreast with manufacturing companies to achieve standard and quality of work (McKee, 2005). BAA is the leading implementer of Egans report (1998) and Latham (1994). BAA reduced costs by 10%, defects by 20% and cutting accidents on site by 20%. Construction time prediction rose to 20% through lean construction in T5 project (BAA, Capital Projects). Through contribution of collaboration and integration of all participating teams in partnering, BAA was able to achieve the Health and Safety Award in 2001 (Pryke, 2006). Perth and Melbourne airports applied the supply chain strategy and linked with UKs supply chain team which corresponds with BAAs primary product categories, and were successful to complete within time and budget ( Lee Richard, al et.2002). Charter Institute of Purchasing and Supply, have identified how BAA used professional purchasing team from seven different purchasing departments. 27 different purchasing processes,11 different accountancy systems and more than 12,000 suppliers which projected BAA to win Kellys Award for excellence in purchasing and supply service. The development, the design and the engineering teams in AMA have recognized the importance of partnering and intended to work together to identify the business needs and focus on solution and developed them and have balance in costs, time and quality of work when they undertake a project (Construction Excellence, 2004). BAA executed the extension of the North Terminal (NT) project successfully on schedule through teamwork and management was flexible with the responsible participants. Partnering and framework agreement was the process which made it possible for the company to work successfully in such confined environment without obstruction and destruction. It could have faced delay in cladding on the outside of the building which coincided with wettest and windiest period, but, because understanding among the teams, the procurement route was changed easily (Potts, et al., 2009). During the past century, construction was procured through the use of separate contracts for design and production. BAA could have 2 years time overrun and 40% costs overrun if it had adopted the traditional approach of project execution, but completed on scheduled time. The T5 project was a complex which added 50% capacity to Heathrow Airport, commenced in December 2002 and completed in March 2008. Professionals were employed to share ideas, knowledge and information with other colleagues in the other professions (Potts, et al., 2009). The agreement signed by BAA with the suppliers was clear and was based on a cost reimbursable form of contract, profits were ring- fenced and BAA retained the risks. The core value of the agreement are team work, trust and commitment, and the team members were encouraged in order to drive out all unnecessary costs, including claims and litigation which boost productivity level (Douglas, 2005). BAA learned from historical events of construction projects, such as British library; upgrading of the West Coast Railway Line; London Underground Jubilee Line extension; the Scottish Parliament building and the new Wembley Stadium, and was armed against the mistakes and difficulties they encountered (Potts, et al., 2009). Slough Estates experimented supply chain management process through executing contracts in 1980s and early 1990s when building designs were becoming sophisticated and new materials and new technology were introduced. Skills from architects and specialist contractors and project management teams were required from outside. New era began when the in-house construction teams were retained to carry out the works, and the caliber of the team was improved in which the company won BCO Award for its work through partnering and frame work agreement which constitute the supply change management (Pryke, 2009). The company experiment all the procurement methods including Traditional, Management Contracting and Construction Management methods which are discussed later. However the overall result was unsatisfactory, because overspending for rectification of unacceptable level of defects developing from its projects was high (Potts, et al., 2009). In 1983, the British Property Federation produced its own procurement system to pioneer reformation in the construction industry through introduction of project management profession and consultants were perceived by majority in construction industry as over- bureaucratic and failed to embrace the industry in collaboration manner ( ). Slough Estates Company failed when it first introduced the supply chain management in 1980s and early 1990s. There was no link between specialist contractors and architects or with the consulting engineers. There was no relationship between the parties except the legal binding instruction as provided for as architects instructions (Rimmer, et al., 2009). The company observed that there is no upstream relationship between the contractors and the client during design stage, the client brief the architects and engineers about what he wants and they convert the information into drawings and specifications and transfer them to the contractor. The projects were won on competitive basis without any prior idea or negotiation, the lowest bid was selected. The contractors have no meaningful upstream relationship with the client to work with their downstream relationships with production and service suppliers and it could not allow in-house to continue (Rimmer, et al., 2009). Supply chain manag ement can be improved if clients are willing to negotiate with the contractors and specialists at the early stage (design stage) of the project. All parties in the supply chain should be consulted during the design and decision making stages. Pryke Stephen, (2009) therefore concluded that UK traditional form of procurement is a weak platform from which to add value and reduce cost through supply chain management. Slough Estates observed that Management Contracting (MC) is similar to traditional method but the management contractor has better opportunity to influence upstream relationship with the clients, particularly at the design stage but has no financial interest in the payment of the contractors. His duty is only to concentrate on programming and planning of the project, and defining the role of each player in the construction teams. It encountered a lot of problems when it experimented MC, and shifted to Construction Management (CM), though it is better than MC, the company did not have constant flow of large projects to maintain the recruitment of large in-house management team. CM was better because it allows early involvement of the package contractors and created an opportunity for all parties to take the initiative to involve their own supply chain in the process (Pryke,2009). The strongest platform from which supply chain management can develop is the Design and Build form of procurement where the contractor has relationship with both upstream and downstream parties and in position to add value to work and reduce costs (reference). Contractors are brought on at the initial stage of the project and can deliberate with the architects, engineers and quantity surveyors for a potential framework agreement and partnering (Pryke, 2009). Supply chain Private Finance Initiative is structured to remove any hindrance that will prevent effective relationship among the participating parties. The contractors have full control over finance and design and facilities management expertise within their own teams. There is continuous and systematic improvement and effective partnering arrangement when contractors are able to work on series of similar projects. Construction industry is now matching with the manufacturing industry in terms of supply chain management. Design an d build and PFI have placed construction industry in a position where it can perform better and unnecessary cost of wastes in rectification is reduced (Pryke, 2009). Research conducted on 300 projects by University of Reading discovered that Design and Build projects delivers better quality of work than Traditional method when the projects are complicated and involves high technology (Bennett, Pothcary and Robinson, 1996). During the innovation of Egan (1994) and Latham (1998) reports, Building Research Establishment (BRE) launched a productivity sampling for construction sites (CALIBRE), Slough Estates employed their services to assess two of its sites, and the result showed that collaboration and better construction methods produced about 55% of value producing hours which was low and the cause was from errors in designs, replacement and repetition of work, defects rectification and delays in supply of materials. Slough Estates has found that implementation of changes required information and knowledge sharing across the supply chain (Pryke ,2009). Construction industry is now realizing the necessity to changes the current working practices and attitudes (Pearson, 1999). Organizations such as Ministry of Defense and Tesco , together with BAA, Balfour and Tarmac have developed supply chain management techniques to improve their supply base which has being practiced by other organizations (manufacturing) long time ago and increasingly improve their competitiveness global market. The supply chain management in manufacturing industry involves all the activities associated with the processing from raw materials to the completion of the finished product for the client customer. Construction industry defers from manufacturing industry by lack of standardization, because it does not consists of stable group of interacting partners to deliberate on improving product quality and efficiency of production (Pryke, 2009). The impact of supply chain on construction sites activities is to reduce the cost and the duration of the activities to b udget and time constraint, through establishing a reliable flow of materials and labour on sites. The application of supply chain management in the construction industry requires serious effort , which entails developing upstream integration in the design and production process and operation to link the process into a chain that would increase the opportunity to add value and reduce total cost. With conventional procurement, which is used in both public and private sectors, the majority of the risk is apportioned to the client. The public sector project team is encouraged to produce a project for the cheapest possible initial cost without regard for the long-term maintenance or running cost (Cartlidge, 2006). The report of Mott MacDonald (2002) states that the public sector procurement managers have been over optimistic and naà ¯ve in their estimates of cost and time of large and complex construction projects. This pattern of inefficiency brings the rationale of introduction of alt ernative form of procurement, with less risk for the public sector (Cartlidge, 2006). This harnesses the private sector expertise such as Public Private Partnership. Private sector organization performances are viewed as more efficient than sector organizations. They are more discipline by market force and competition (Cartlidge, 2006). As common as it is to most large public sector providers the National Health Service (NHS) has suffered from the usual problems of late delivery and cost overruns. One of the main challenges to NHS capital procurement is disintegration of the NHS client base for specific healthcare schemes. Several health trusts have responsibility for the delivery of the schemes with differing level of expertise and experience in capital procurement. The solution to the problem is the departure from the traditional NHS procurement method to a procurement known as NHS ProCure21, which is framework agreement with its materials and services suppliers (Cartlidge, 2006). EVALUATION Evaluation of benefits and disbenefits partnership and traditional model of contracting is carried in terms of time and costs saving, quality control, health and safety on sites, value for money and risk management. BAA T5 project could have two years overrun and 40% costs overrun if traditional approach was followed (Keith, et al., 2009). 10 30% cost was saved to BAA on the budget for mechanical and electrical materials and equipment. The Buy Club was early engaged in design stage which promoted lean manufacturing and installation (Keith, et al., 2009). Early agreement on benchmark prototypes with an open book approach reveal issues before they become problems. Collaborative agreement avoids waste of resources (Standing, 2001). Culture has an impact on supply chain manage. The limiting issues are: clash of cultures; lack of trust; lack of coordination between teams; differing procedures and attitudes, and relational risk associated with self-interest focus (Elmuthi, 2001). Partnering has works for the entire project team in the US Army Corp of Engineering; owners. Contractors and design firms all attest to the benefits. Results have exceeded their expectation over 90% of the time in 100 projects. Schedules were shortened and costs fall. Value engineering opportunities are more likely to be identified and implemented (Davy, et al., 1996). MCI Constructors places a heavy emphasis on efficient project management and on prompt identification and resolution of disputes while attempting to avoid litigation at all cost, state: We found that the most successful way to achieve these goals is to utilize partnering (Mitchell, et al., 1996,.53). in the new handbook on partnering, the American Institute of Architects and the American Consulting Engineers Council note that The benefits are clear: Projects are completed on time, within budget, to high standards, and to the satisfaction of everyone (Davy, et al.,1996, p. 290). Traditional construction is fragmented, w hich is solely defined by organizational boundaries (Pryke, 2002). The management using supply chain approach, improves knowledge for academic and practice, which contributes to the management of projects in construction (Pryke, 2009). Leverage affects the flow of information and knowledge throughout the network of actors who constitute the supply chain. It also has an impact on how risk is been transferred fairly, unlike in the traditional process (Cox, 2001). The potential of supply chain is presented for long-term to develop over time and improve and in so doing provide better business solution for the clients, better project outcome for the stakeholder and higher level of profitability for the supply chain members(Pryke, 2009). The concept of supply chains and their management, helps to assemble groups of suppliers and contractors and manage them in a way that emphasizes on value and cost. The groups collaborate to share information and knowledge. They manage and share risk in a manner that is equitable and transparent (Pryke, 2009). The 1994 Latham Report indicates that the level of unnecessary costs generated from inefficiency of use of labour and materials was around 30% of the initial capital cost. Involvement of the specialist contractors and suppliers in the design from outset, means abandoning all forms of traditional procurement which delay the appointment of the specialist constructors, sub-contractors and manufacturers, until the design is well advanced. The traditional forms of sequential of appointment are replaced with appointment of integrated design and construction supply chain from the inception period (Cain, 2003). Sub-contracting in supply chain management should be revisited, because smaller companies are less likely to offer apprenticeships and who would train for the future. In selecting suppliers and sub-contractor in the supply chain many factors should be considered. The location of the project and its proximity to the supplier. The experience of the sub-contractor working in such environment and if he/she can recruit qualified people living in the area or they may be brought in for the during of the project. Accommodation in close proximity for the imported personnel who would stay on the job for long time ( March, 2009). Many case studies revealed that framework agreement is achieving better value of work year by year during the past decade. Though the process is expensive, it does not re-advertise for applying/bidding and awarding of subsequent contracts, therefore great amount of costs is saved. It is able to establish objectives and targets and monitor performance of project and compare successive projects and transfer lessons from project to project (Constructing Excellence, 2005). Partnering is a management system that is based on collaborative approach to work. It is different style of working when compared to the traditional approach which was formerly common in the construction industry. It achieves greater value for money for the client and higher profit for the companies involved, and improves quality of work and is more predictable for project completion ( Bennett and Jayes, 1998). Some the attributed benefits of partnering are: Improved communication among participating parties; better working environment created; reduction of adversarial relationships; Less litigation; Fewer claims; better control over health and safety issues; Improve decision-making that helps to avoid costly claims and saves time and money (Fryer, 2004). Prime contracting(sub-contracting) has been used effectively for high value complex facility procurement projects for many years. It was selected as the procurement model of construction and maintenance services for the defence estates in the 1997 Strategic Defence Review , when it was decided that a more effective and efficient process was required the billion pounds a that the Ministry of Defence spends on its estates (Fryer, 2004). Benefits acquired by MoD include: Easier fault reporting; continuous improvement and innovation; consistent approach across allestates in England and Wales; greater emphasis on quality control and checking as a direct result of a reduction in bureaucracy (Fryer, 2004) CONCLUSION The involvement of the specialists at design stage enabled BAA to eliminate time overrun and cost overrun (Pryke, 2009). There is no production line in construction, hence the difficulty of transferring of this manufacturing-orientated approach. Nevertheless, all other construction companies have to follow the footsteps of the initiators to improve value for money, meeting time constraints, meet budget and quality and lift the industry in high esteem in terms of investment. Supply chain enhances good relationship among the participating teams through integration (Egan, 1998). Despite the impact of the reports of Egan in 1998 and Latham in 1994 there are traditional barriers to reform is proving unassailable. It is recognized that the clients, especially their internal professional advisors within their procurement groups were refusing to change their traditional, sequential procurement practices (Cain, 2003). The inevitable conclusion of the foregoing is that the construction industry is unlikely to be able to transform itself across the board by using SCM-type technique, unless sufficient private clients are persuaded to provide the leadership such as provide by Slough Estates in the 1990s. furthermore, Government and public sector clients need to keep their nerves and let SCM-friendly process like PFI mature into the world class delivers of projects they are capable of becoming (Pryke, 2009 p. 159). The previous specialized knowledge that are trapped within small specialist sub-contractors and suppliers can now become available to clients and designers in a way that is not previously possible (Bresnen, et al., 2009). From Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) there are indications of problems facing UK construction industry. The problems are fragmentation, adversarial relationships, project uniqueness, separation of design from production and competitive tendering. The use of clusters embedded within a partnered supply chain managing approach is cited as solution to the problem (Gray, (1996). It is an improvement of eliminating waste when specialist sub-contractors are brought in during design stage as it is in supply chain management (Morledge, et al,. 2009). It is suggested that where there is a context in construction, involving routine risk minimization coupled with transaction cost emphasis, and this simply creates a situation where costs are cut to achieve competitive status; value added may also be reduced and continuous improvement is unlikely to flourish (Pryke, 2009). Risk comes to rest in the supply chain at the position where leverage is dominant on the part of transferring out project actor. Edkins et al., 2009) suggested that economic power is not relevant to supply chain members and that the power or leverage exercised is supply chain specific and related to the power of other firms within the supply chain. Construction needs structure that provides collaborative relationship and which will maintain the flexibility demanded by the business environment (Smyth and Pryke, 2008). Supply chain management provides means of managing the players comprising the project coalition without the need to return direct employment and management which has improved unsustainable in the British construction industry of the twentieth century (Latham, 1994). The function of supply chain observes that, network of actors linked by number of sophisticated relational linkages (Pryke, 2006). Communication network is more important to the industry, its firms and its clients in the supply chain than the size of the firm. The distance that information or knowledge must pass to reach the actor wh o would handle such material affects the quality of such material on arrival and attitude of the receiver on arrival (Pryke, 2009). More education and motivation is required to maintain partnering, framework agreement and supply chain in the construction industry. As suggested by the government sponsored committees (Egan,1998 and Latham, 1994) reports, this is only possible way standardization. All construction team should participate in the development of partnering strategy for the project for effective result (Davy, et al., 1995). All stakeholders of a construction project should be committed to partnering. Every stakeholders interest should be considered in creating mutual goals,

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Ironic Title of Judith Guests Ordinary People :: Judith Guest Ordinary People Essays

The Ironic Title of Ordinary People The significance of the title "Ordinary People" is that it is ironic because there are not ordinary people in the book. It does not correspond with the novel itself. As defined in Webster's Dictionary, ordinary means usual, common, or normal. To most people, this is what they think they are. However, in the book being unordinary is common for most of the characters. The author of this book, Judith Guest, probably titled this book "Ordinary People" to make readers ask themselves, "What is ordinary? Am I ordinary?" The title describes the book as being ordinary when the characters are really unusual. For example, most teenagers do not try to commit suicide. However, in this book, Conrad Jarett tries to kill himself. He attempts suicide because he is depressed about his older brother's death. He lost his brother in a boating accident and he blames himself for his death. He believes that he could have prevented the accident by coming in from the sea when the waters began to get rough. However, there was nothing that Conrad could have done to prevent the boat from capsizing. His attempt to commit suicide is one of the things that makes him unordinary from normal teenagers. In the real world, many teenagers attempt suicide. But, this is not ordinary. It is unusual for a teenager to attempt or commit suicide. Society does not look at this sort of behavior as ordinary. If a teenager does attempt suicide, they are usually seeking attention and looking for pity. As a result of these actions, they are seen as having some sort of mental incapacity and are treated for it. Therefore, this is not ordinary and Conrad was not either. Another character in this book who is not ordinary is Beth Jarett, Conrad's mother. Conrad feels as if she does not love him. She hardly talks to him. She also treats him as if he does not belong in the family, like a stranger. For example, in one part of the book, Conrad bends over to hug his mother and she just sits there and does not hug him back. In another part, his father wants to take a picture of Conrad and his mother

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Capital budgeting Essay

A – Capital budgeting is an analysis of potential additions to fixed assets, it is part of the long term decisions taken by the top management and involve large expenditures. The capital budgeting is very important to firm’s future. The difference between capital budgeting and individual’s investment decisions are in the estimation of cash flows, risk, and determination of the appropriate discount. B – The difference between interdependent and mutually exclusive projects is that the independent project’s cash flows are not affected by the acceptance of the other, although the mutually exclusive can be adversely impacted by the acceptance of the other. the difference between normal and no normal cash flow stream projects occurs in the signs since for the normal cash flows if the cost ( negative CF) followed by a series of positive cash flows will lead to one change of sign. On the other hand the non-normal project cash flows have two or more changes of sign C – 1 NPV: is the sum of all cash inflows and outflows of a project C – 2 – The rationale behind the NPV method is that it is equal to PV of inflows minus the cost which is the net gain in wealth. If the projects are mutually exclusive we will choose the project with the highest NPV and here in our case we will choose project S since it has a greater NPV compared to project S (19.98>18.79). If the projects are independent we will choose both. C – 3 The NPV will change if the WACC change; if the WACC increases the NPV will decrease on the other hand if the WACC decreases the NPV will increase. D – 1 Internal rate of return (IRR) is the discount rate that forces PV inflows equal to cost, and the NPV = 0. IRR using excel for project L: IRR 18.13% For project S: IRR 23.6% D – 2 A project IRR is the same as a bond’s YTM. The YTM on the bond would be  the IRR of the â€Å"bond† project. D – 3 If IRR > WACC, the project’s return exceeds its costs and there is some return left over to boost stockholders returns. If IRR > WACC, the project is accepted and if IRR < WACC, the project is reject. If projects are independent, we accept both of them, as both IRR > WACC. If projects are mutually exclusive, we accept the one with the highest IRR. D – 4 IRR do not depend on the WACC, so if the WACC changes, the IRR for both projects will remain the same. E – 1 Excel=NPV(rate,CF1:CFn) + CF 0 WACC NPV L NPV S 0% $50.00 $40.00 5% $33.05 $29.29 10% $18.78 $19.98 15% $6.67 $11.83 20% ($3.70) $4.63 Cross over rate is equal to 8.7%. CF Differences 0 -60 10 60 IRR = 8.7% E – 2 For independent projects, both IRR and NPV will lead to the same decision. If projects are mutually exclusive, there is a conflict between the IRR and the NPV. Since we said that NPV is the best method to use in case of conflict, project L will be selected based on this method. F – 1 The slope of the NPV profile depends entirely on the timing of the cash flows; long-term projects have excessive NPV profiles than short-term projects. We conclude that NPV profiles can cross in two situations, first when mutually exclusive projects differ in size: the smaller project frees up funds at t = 0 for investment. The higher the opportunity cost, the more valuable these funds, so a high WACC favors small projects, and second when the projects cash flows differ in terms of the timing pattern of their cash flows: the project with faster payback provides more CF in early years for reinvestment. If WACC is high, early CF especially good, NPVs > NPV L (projects studied in class). F – 2 The reinvestment rate assumptions: -NPV method assumes Cfs are reinvested at the WACC. -IRR method assumes CFs are reinvested at the IRR. -Assuming Cfs are reinvested at the opportunity cost of capital is more realistic, so NPV method is the best. NPV method should be used to choose between mutually exclusive projects. -Perhaps a hybrid of the IRR that assumes cost of capital reinvestment is needed. F – 3 Some projects will result in different IRR and NPV. The NPV will be selected to decide if the project is going to be accepted or not. We do not use the IRR first because it does not take into account changing discount rates, so it is j not adequate for longer-term projects with discount rates that are will probably vary. Second, the IRR ineffective is a project with a non-normal cash flow streams (mixture of positive and negative cash flows). G – 1 MIRR assumes reinvestment at the opportunity cost =WACC. MIRR also avoids the multiple IRR problem. G – 2 MIRR does not always lead to the same decision as NPV when mutually exclusive projects are being considered. In particular, small projects often have a higher MIRR, but a lower NPV, than larger projects. Thus, MIRR is not a perfect substitute for NPV, and NPV remains the single best decision rule. H – 1 Payback period is the number of years required to recover a project’s cost, or â€Å"how long does it take to get our money back?† H – 2 The payback period tells us when the project will break even in a cash flow sense. With a required payback of 2 years, Project S is acceptable, but Project L is not. Whether the two projects are independent or mutually exclusive makes no difference in this case. H – 3 Discounted payback is similar to payback except that discounted rather than raw cash flows are used. H – 4 Discounted payback still fails to consider cash flows after the payback period and it gives us no specific decision rule for acceptance. However, payback is not generally used as the primary decision tool. Rather, it is used as a rough measure of a project’s liquidity and riskiness. I – 1 2 3 CF -800000 5000000 -5000000 WACC 0,1 To find NPV we used excel: Excel: =NPV(rate,CF1:CFn)+CFO NPV (386 776,86 DT) Excel: =IRR(CF0:CFn,Rate) IRR 25% Excel: =MIRR(CF0:CFN,Rate) MIRR 5,6% 7

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Artifact Speech Outline Essays

Artifact Speech Outline Essays Artifact Speech Outline Paper Artifact Speech Outline Paper Thesis Statement: Today, brought in my old hockey stick that represents the impact that the game has had on me as a person and how the game has strengthened my relationships with people. D. Main Points: 1. First, I will explain the importance of the game of hockey and how it has helped me personally. 2. Second, I will share with you how have become even closer with family members through this game. 3. Finally, I will explain why chose to bring this stick over any other stick or piece of equipment. II. Body A. The game has done a great deal to help me become a better person. 1 . At a young age hockey taught me how to stay committed to something and how to work as a team. Hockey also trained me to become a leader. These are great skills to have especially at a young age and they have continued to pay dividends for me, as I grow older. 2. These skills have made high school and now college a little easier for me. Leadership and teamwork are essential in the business world, so as a business student here at UCM I am grateful to have learned these skills at a young age. Transition: Now that I have told you how the game has helped me as a person, I will now share how the game has brought me even closer with family members. B. I have become very close with my Dad through the game of hockey. The game also brought me very close to my Grandpa before he died. 1 . You would never be able to tell through all the arguments and yelling but hockey made my dad and I best friends. As a young kid we would always go to Wings games. As I started playing travel he decided to be my first coach. By the time was playing in high school he was my biggest fan screaming louder for me than all the other fans combined. 2. My Pop, grandpa in German, also became very close with me through the game of hockey. He called himself the equipment manager. He always made sure I had new gear when I needed it and never missed one game Of mine in 10 years. Transition:Now that I have explained how have became very close tit loved ones through the game I will share with you the reason I chose to bring this stick over any other equipment to represent me. C. As told you my grandfather was a huge part of my hockey career. 1. Unfortunately at 82 years old my Pop passed away. But even when he wasnt in great health he found a way to help me and still be the equipment manager he always was. 2. This stick was the last thing he got me. Broke my stick in the last game of my senior year before playoffs. Even though he know I could possibly only play one more game if we lost in the first round of playoffs he went out and pent over $200 to get me the same stick had broke because he knew it was my favorite one.